


Oh How Far We've Come

by Emme2589



Series: Just Call And I'll Be There [3]
Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Government Supported Private Investigator Ending | GSPI (Henry Stickmin), International Rescue Operative Ending | IRO (Henry Stickmin), Light Angst, M/M, Selectively Mute Henry Stickmin, Special BROvert Ops Ending | SBO (Henry Stickmin), Uneasy Allies, uneasy allies to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27559870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emme2589/pseuds/Emme2589
Summary: Trust doesn't come easily to Henry, but that doesn't stop Charles from worming his way into his heart.
Relationships: Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin
Series: Just Call And I'll Be There [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011435
Comments: 7
Kudos: 148





	Oh How Far We've Come

"Well well well...look who finally decided to wake up..."

Charles focused hard on the airship, steering the helicopter smoothly through the cloudless sky. He could barely contain his excitement. Finally, he was going on another mission, and with a famous ex-convict no less! At least, if this mission was successful, he would _become_ an ex-convict! That was the exciting part!

He of course knew who Henry Stickmin was. He'd gained quite a reputation for attempting to rob a bank vault, breaking out of a high-security prison, and then stealing an artifact worth over a million dollars, all within the span of just a few months. That wasn't nearly all he'd done, either. That was just what was most noteworthy. In reality, Henry was a seasoned burglar, having countless heists under his belt, and despite his awful luck, he somehow managed to come out on top every time.

In short, Charles was looking forward to this. If all went well, this would be fun.

"Charlie here will be bringin' you in close to the airship. The rest is up to you. Find a way to bring 'em down, and you'll be a free man."

The captain was done with his speech, so Charles turned in his seat to address Henry, "So, uh, how d'you want me to bring you in?"

Henry sighed, long and heavy, fixing Charles with a closed-off glare. Even from a slight distance, Charles could see that Henry's eyes were blue, a greyish torquoise around the outside turning a deep ocean blue near the pupil. They were stormy under Henry's glare, like armor closing off what secrets lay beneath. Chilled and tense. Charles knew a look like that. It was the epitome of distrust. Henry had his guard up.

Charles matched the cold stare with one of his own, "Look, I get that you don't wanna be here. I get that you don't like me. If you'd rather take this mission solo, then that's fine by me. I'm just trying to help."

Henry's gaze softened, but only by a little. He crossed his arms, eyeing the airship that hovered just outside the chopper.

"So. Which gadget do you wanna use? I can't fly too close or I'll get shot down."

Henry rolled his shoulders, reaching for the earpiece and fitting it to his head.

"Awesome. Don't worry, it'll be _me_ talking to _you_ for the most part."

Henry looked up at him in surprise, the storminess clearing from his irises. Charles tried not to stare. The blue color, unclouded by distrust, was beautiful.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Henry lifted his hands, let them fall, then spoke in the smallest hush of a whisper, _"You're okay with me not talking?"_

"Uh, yes?" Charles shrugged, "C'mon, Stickmin. Whaddya take me for? Whether you talk to me out loud or not isn't really my business so long as you can still communicate somehow. I'll do the talking for both of us, m'kay?"

Henry straightened his shoulders like he'd had a heavy weight lifted off of them. He switched the earpiece on, hovering by the open doorway as he prepared to drop.

"Okay, ready?"

Henry waited for the right moment, then he leapt to the airship roof.

"Alright!" Charles shut the door on the chopper, tuning his headset to the earpiece, "Check check, this is Charles. Just letting you know that there's uhhh...guy? Down there? A bad guy? So, uh, yeah. Good luck!"

Henry's voice was barely discernible through the noise, but once Charles heard it, he grinned from ear to ear.

_"Thanks, Charles."_

***

"The old leaders left details for this plan, and I had to di-AH!"

Charles hit the horn as hard as he could, and it blared loud enough to startle Svensson into dropping his gun. He glanced back at it, then at Henry, seemingly debating whether it would be worth it to dive for it.

Instead, he lifted his fists, "Okay then, let's-UGHH!"

Henry socked him in the jaw as hard as he could, knocking him out and making a sizable bruise form on his cheek.

"You did it!" Charles cheered, "Now you just gotta lock it up!"

He did, and Charles called in the reinforcements. Henry came out with Svensson once the Toppats were surrounded by soldiers, and once he'd made it to the ground, Charles could see that Svensson was cuffed as he was handed off to another soldier.

He sprinted for his partner in crime (so to speak) as soon as his helicopter touched down and shut off, "HENRY!"

Henry beamed, lifting his hand and clasping it hard in Charles'.

"Nice work, man!" Charles gestured to the many, many criminals being led out with their hands in the air, "Yeah, uh, this is every last remaining member getting hauled off!"

"Fine work indeed, boys." General Galeforce approached from the nearby green army tank, "You two really do make a fine team. I'm promotin' you both into special covert ops agents."

"Whaa-?" Charles tilted his head, "But Henry's not even enlisted!"

"Well, he is now, unless he doesn't want it. You'll be runnin' a lot more missions together with Charlie."

Charles grinned giddily at Henry, who had that mischievous smirk on his face. It was the smile he always got when he knew things were going his way.

Charles could feel his cheeks hurting with the size of his smile, "Is that a yes!?"

Henry gave him a thumbs up, and Charles wrapped him up in a hug.

"You don't have to accept right away." Galeforce smiled fondly at the shenanigans of the younger men, "Now, why don't you head back to base? You've earned it."

Charles took Henry's hand, and they both headed towards the helicopter.

He had such a giddy excitement in his chest like a flock of butterflies struggling to be free. He swayed the arm that held Henry's hand, and Henry swayed along with him. Just a month ago, if Charles tried to hug him, or even touch his shoulder, Henry would flinch away like he'd been burned, but now he was warmly accepting all of Charles' little affections, both platonic, and not so platonic. He usually didn't initiate, but he was happy to return any kiss, any soft touch, any nudge and nuzzle.

"Whoo hoo!" Charles burst into the apartment, collapsing over the couch, "I can't believe how much of a success that was! Everything went right!"

Henry collapsed over him, his head on his stomach.

"Oof!" Charles put a hand on Henry's head as he gazed up at him, "Nice thinking on the red herring, Hen. Couldn'ta done that better myself."

Henry rolled over so he was lying on his stomach, his head resting on Charles' chest with his arms on either side of him, "If you can believe it, I wasn't too sure about that one."

"So why'd you do it?"

"I mean...if it didn't work, I woulda just had to try something else."

"Alright. Fair enough."

They lay in companionable silence as Charles pet Henry's head, and he closed his eyes against the affection. Charles remembered the way Henry had looked at him on the airship; Such a distrustful look in those stormy blue eyes. Now, Henry only looked at him with warmth and love, sometimes so charmed that he couldn't fight a smile, or a few silent giggles, and Charles found it so precious.

"Hey, Henry..."

Henry's eyes opened, "Mhm?"

"Not to put, uh, a damper on our success or anything...but why were you so surprised back on the airship mission when I told you you didn't have to talk?"

Henry's smile fell, and he burrowed into the collar of Charles' jacket.

"You don't have to answer."

"No, it's fine." Henry relaxed against him, "Why d'you think? I grew up around people who tried to force me to talk. Sure, I _can_ talk, but sometimes it's difficult, and it takes so much effort to overturn that. I thought I was just being selfish or difficult, because talking is easy for everyone else, so why couldn't I fight through it too?"

"Aw, Hen, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, it sucked." Henry inhaled, "You know, the irony is that it's easier to get my words out when I'm with people who don't mind when I stay quiet. I think you've heard me speak aloud more than anyone else I've ever met _combined."_

"Really?" Charles sat up, settling Henry in his lap, "I'm...honored."

"What? No, don't be silly."

"I'm serious." Charles took Henry's hand and placed it over his own chest, "The fact that you trust me so much that you feel comfortable talking to me...it's wonderful."

Henry buried his face against Charles' shoulder to try and hide his blush, "Oh, Charles...of course I trust you. I trust you with my very life."

Charles didn't know what all had happened to Henry in his life, but it was clear that trust didn't come easily to him. Not by a long shot. Charles could still feel him tremble under his touch when he came at him too suddenly, flinching away like he expected an attack. He had nightmares often, and while he never spoke of them, Charles could tell how little sleep he was getting. He remembered when he rescued Henry from the complex, apologizing for asking for help, clinging to him like he would crumble to dust at any moment. What had he gone through to make him so fearful? Charles was afraid to learn. He felt that he didn't want to know.

He caught Henry's head bobbing, and he held him up as he blinked in confusion, "Henry, are you tired?"

"No."

The response was automatic. Rehearsed. Charles fixed him with a disapproving look, and he deflated, his eyes fluttering shut.

"Henry, we just went through a pretty intense mission. You should probably get some sleep."

Henry shook his head, mumbling, _"Can't. Nightmares."_

"You gotta sleep, Hen. If we're gonna be covert ops, we need our beauty sleep!"

_"Please. I'm so handsome, I don't need it."_

"Henry, please."

Henry dropped his attempt at a light-hearted smile, _"I can't, Charles. I'm scared."_

Charles wasn't sure whether to give him space or pull him in closer to steady his shaking. There were tears in his eyes.

 _"I always have this one recurring nightmare where the rocket launched successfully."_ Henry's fists bunched up on Charles' sleeves, _"You got stuck in it while I escaped. You tried to call me, but the rocket exploded, and you died. We didn't even have a body to bury. You were ripped apart by the fire and the vacuum of space."_

"Hey, Henry..." Charles held his head up, thumbs stroking his damp cheeks, "I'm right here. Do you see me? I'm alive. We're okay."

Henry huddled into him. His skin was cold under the fabric of his hoodie. Charles held him loosely, silently assuring that he could pull away whenever he wanted.

"Do you want me to stay with you while you sleep?"

Henry wrung his hands together. Then he nodded.

"Okay. I'll walk you. D'you want me to carry you?"

Another nod, so Charles swept him up bridal-style. There was a gasp as Henry held tight to Charles' shoulders, eyeing the ground as his head rested in the crook of his neck.

"You okay?"

Henry huddled into him again, "Yeah."

Charles carried him to the next room over, laying him down in the bed as he sat down beside him. He pulled the covers up over him as he looked up, barely able to keep his eyes open.

He didn't know what made him do it, but after seeing the pleading look in those tall blue orbs, Charles began to climb into bed beside him.

"Ah! Ch-Charles-!"

He froze, "Should I stop?"

Henry stared right at him, unable to look away from the concerned frown that plastered itself all over Charles' face. Henry looked so vulnerable like this. His initial reaction to Charles had been thinly-disguised disdain, hiding behind his confidence and irritability like a steel force field, but now, it was the exact opposite. His expression was open, soft, reflecting honesty and compassion. It was like Henry had so thoroughly dropped his guard, he provided a direct window to his soul that Charles could see through like a cracked display case.

Slowly, without breaking eye contact, Henry reached out to grasp Charles' shirt, tugging on it with that same pleading look. Charles got the hint, climbing the rest of the way into bed and holding his arms out for Henry to snuggle into him.

Henry's arms circled around Charles' back, relaxing again as the soft smile returned to his face. Charles lived for that smile, knowing that true sincerity was rare for him, even after he went good. It was like he'd broken down Henry's walls himself, but not using force. All Henry needed was a little kindness. Once the walls were down, it would be easier for him to heal.

And you know what? He was already healing. Henry talked more often than he used to. Where he once hid away in shadowy corners while on base, he now participated in conversations in his own way, whether they were related to missions or not. He stood up straighter. He smiled more. He had more friends. Even the way he would tap his foot or twirl a hoodie string around one finger was far less stiff than it once was.

Charles was truly blessed to have been the one to make that change. To make Henry realize that he didn't need to be afraid anymore. To be the one that Henry smiled so sweetly at, his dimples on full display and adding so perfectly to how handsome he was.

Henry rolled onto his back, taking a long, slow breath before allowing himself to succumb to unconsciousness. And you know what? That night, there were no nightmares.

Charles lay partially over him, kissing his cheek, "Goodnight, Henry."

Henry hummed, _"Goodnight."_

Just as Charles was drifting off, he swore he heard Henry's voice one last time, softer even than on the day they first met.

_"Thank you. I love you."_

***


End file.
